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This week, the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists released a strong statement on last Saturday's kidnapping and public humiliation of four female journalists. A quote read: "We condemn in the strongest of terms these illegal arrests and detention of the journalists and reiterate our appeal to the public that formal and civilised channels exist for seeking redress which must be respected."

In a media statement also released this week, Reporters Without Borders added their voice: "Such disgraceful behaviour worthy of a bygone age is very damaging to Sierra Leone's image."

Haja Massah Kai-samba, the Sowei who told the local press that the four journalists were taken into “our custody because they spoke unfavorably on radio against FGM,” seems not to know that abduction is a crime in Sierra Leone. Or that the United Nations-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone found people guilty on accusations which included crimes such as abduction; the kind of actions …